Strategies for Using Automotive Textiles-Manufacturing Techniques and Applications
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Journal of Safety Engineering 2012, 1(1): 7-16 DOI: 10.5923/j.safety.20120101.02 Strategies for in Automobile: Strategies for Using Automotive Textiles-Manufacturing Techniques and Applications Kunal Singha Department of Textile Technology, Panipat Institute of Engineering & Technology, Harayana, India Abstract The safety in automobile is become importance in the modern scenario. The textile product can be use in this purpose in the form of various safety devices like air bag, seat belt, car interior, Power steering filters, Abs brake filter, tire cord production, lining, covering, cushion components, design interior etc. The different grade textile fibers as polyester, nylon, PVC, acrylic, viscose/cotton etc can be the potential option for the new emerging field name called automotive textile. Keywords Air Bag, Seat Belt, Car Interior, Tire Cord Production, Lining, Covering, Cushion Component, Design Inte- rior, Polyester, Nylon, PVC, Automotive Textile which is triggered primarily by the factors like increase in 1. Introduction income and standard of living of the middle class Indian families and Indian government liberalization measures. Textiles are no more limited for use as apparels clothing is Further, as travel has become the integral part of everyone’s just are but not the only purpose of textiles with the rapid life, issues such as comfort and safety have taken on a right changes in the social economic structure of our society. priority. All these factors clearly indicate brilliant prospect Many efforts are made to some and protect human life. for automotive textile industry which lead to increased de- Automotive textiles happens to be the rewarding sector mand of the technical textiles components used in automo- finding extensive use of technical textiles in the product biles[3, 4]. It is expected that India will be the leading car categories viz. interior trims, safety devices like seat belts producer (15%) by 2015. Another reason for large growth in and airbags, carpets, filters, battery separators, hood liners, the automotive textiles is that India is a low cost manufac- hoses & belt reinforcement. Textiles, which constitute ap- turing base. proximately 20-25 Kgs in a car, are not only used for en- hanced aesthetic of automotives but also for sensual comfort Table 1. Textiles in automotives[1] & safety. Additionally, few textile products found their ap- Breakup of automotive Textiles Share % plications as design solutions to engineering problems in the Sl.No form of composites, tyre reinforcement, sound insulation & 1 Carpets (Including Car Mats) 33.3 vibration control. Apart from woven & knitted constructions, Nonwovens also find applications in transport textiles due to 2 Upholstery (Seating Fabric) 18 certain advantages served by them. The use of textiles (Table 3 Pre-assembled interior components 14 1) in automotive applications includes floor coverings; up- 4 Tyres 12.8 holstery; belts, tubes and tapes; tyre cord; safety belts; air- 5 Safety Belts 8.8 bags; components; and filters[1,2] 6 Air bags 3.7 1.1. Market for Automotives 7 Others 9.4 Total 100 THE Indian automotive industry has experienced an un- precedented boom in the recent years. From 2007-2015 India will contribute 16% to the global automotive textiles. This is due to the sudden increase in the demand of automotives 2. Seat Belt: Engineering Principle The seat belt is an energy-absorbing device that is de- * Corresponding author: [email protected] (Kunal Singha) signed to keep the load imposed on a victim's body during a Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/safety crash down to survivable limits. Fundamentally, it is de- Copyright © 2012 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved signed to deliver non-recoverable extension to reduce the 8 Kunal Singha: Strategies for in Automobile: Strategies for Using Automotive Textiles-Manufacturing Techniques and Applications deceleration forces, which the body encounters in a crash. same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Basically, it is designed to offer non recoverable extension to Thus, driver continues in motion, sliding forward along the decrease the deceleration forces that the body comes across seat. A driver in motion tends to stay in motion with the same in a crash. Non recoverable extension is significant to pre- speed and in the same direction, unless acted upon by the vent the occupants from being restrained into their seats and unbalanced force of a seat belt. Seat belts are used to provide sustaining whiplash injuries right away after a collision. An safety for passengers whose motion is governed by Newton's efficient seat belt will only permit its wearer to move forward laws (Figure 1). The seat belt provides the unbalanced force, a maximum of about 30 cm to avoid contact with any fixed which brings driver from a state of motion to a state of rest[1, parts of the car. Seat belt was invented concurrently in 9]. United States and Sweden. Earlier seat belts were fixed and Assume, car speed is 13.41 m/s, driver’s weight is 50 kg, adjusted manually by the wearer. With the introduction of then what will be the impact force acting on the car driver? automatic belts today wearer has more freedom to move[6]. If driver is wearing a non-stretchable seat belt, stopping distance is 0.304 mt. 2.1. Need for Seat Belt Impact force on driver =[0.5x 50x(13.41)2] / 0.304 = In an auto smash, seat belts prevent ejection from a mov- 14788.5 N = 1.5 tons 2 ing car and stop people going through the windshield as the Deceleration of driver = 14788.5/50 = 295.77 m/s vehicle comes to a sudden stop. Seat belts also minimize If driver is without seat belt, suppose stopping distance is injuries due to impact with the vehicle's hard interior; they 0.0608 mt. 2 ensure better control of the car. Seat belts also hold people in Impact force on driver =[0.5x 50x(13.41) ] / 0.0608 = position for the protective cushioning, if there's an air bag. At 73942.5 N = 7.5 tons 2 speeds under 25 mph, seat belts give adequate protection, but Deceleration of driver = 73942.5/50 =1478.8 m/s ; now if at higher speeds, air bags help to prevent the violent forces driver is wearing stretchable seat belt, stopping distance is exerted on the neck and head in frontal crashes[5, 7]. 0.456 mt (Figure 2) Figure 1. Forces in Car Crashes 2.2. Scientific Approaches towards Seat Belt Figure 2. Safety and signifiance of the seatbelt It’s a simple Newton’s first law of motion and law of en- Force on driver =[0.5x 50x(13.41)2] /0.456 = 9467.65 N = ergy conservation. According to Newton’s first law of mo- 0.96 ton and deceleration of driver = 9467.65/50 = 189.353 tion an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in m/s2 motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the A moderate amount of stretch in a seatbelt harness can Journal of Safety Engineering 2012, 1(1): 7-16 9 extend the stopping distance and reduce the average impact body of the webbing. Low longitudinal stiffness and thinner force on the driver compared to a non-stretching harness. If web gives good winding performance with use of smooth the belt stretched 0.125 mt. it would reduce the deceleration monofilament weft yarns[11]. to 189.353 m/s2 and the average impact force to 0.96 ton compared to 295.77 m/s2 and 1.5 tons for a non-stretching 2.5. Major Machineries Required for the Manufacture of seat belt. Either a stretching or non-stretching seat belt re- Seat Belt Webbings are duces the impact force compared to no seat belt[8]. High speed automatic needle looms, Warp yarn tension 2.3. Raw Material and Manufacturing Method: control device, Tape collection machine Cone Creel of 600 Constructional Details ends, Continuous Dying machine Steam Boiler, Compres- sor[12]. Raw material used for seat belt webbings are Nylon, PET and its derivatives like HTPY. Nylon was utilized in some 2.6. Major Global Manufacturers of Seat Belts and early seat belts, but due to of its higher UV degradation Webbing resistance; polyester is now widely used worldwide and also polyester scores over nylon because of lower extensibility Autoliv, Sweden, Key Safety Systems, USA, TRW, and higher stiffness. Seat belt structures can be single layer Germany, Delphi Corporation, USA, Ribbons Limited, or double layer and manufactured on needle looms with plain UK[10,13]. weave, twill weave, satin weave. Normally 2/2-twill struc- ture is used (Table 2). The needle loom used presently is 2.7. Seat Belt Quality Details: Requirements shuttleless and capable of delivering over 1000 picks per The seat belt is required to have the properties: Static load minute[10]. bearing capacity upto 1500 kg and extensibility upto 25-30%, A typical seat belt is made of 320 ends of 1,100 dtex Abrasion resistance, Heat and light resistance, Light weight, polyester each. Most weft yarns made from polyester are Flexibility for use[13, 14]. 550dtex. Commonly used seat belt webbing is a narrow fabric measuring 46mm wide. Commercial needle looms can 2.8. Performance Tests and Standard for Seat Belt accommodate six weaving stations simultaneously side by side. In case of nylon seat belts, the warp yarns are 180 dtex Tests are carried out for ascertaining the mechanical per- and the weft is either 470 or 940 dtex. Normally, 1000-1500 formance of the webbing as per BSI and the SAE on the denier used for main warp yarns, 250-500 denier used for some aspects like; width, thickness , breaking strength and selvedge yarns and same denier or slightly higher denier as elongation for dry and wet webbing, abrasion resistance at selvedge yarns used for weft.